Work-supporting post for sewing machines



Jan. 23. 1945.

6. w. WESSON WORK-SUPPORTING POST FOR SEWING MACHINES 2 Shets-Sheet 1' Filed Feb. 18, 1944 3mm eoiye wGSSOZQ/ Ni/mew Jan. 23, 1945. G. w. WESSON WORK-SUPPORTING POST FOR SEWING MACHINES Filed Feb. 18, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 360196 M Zflesson Patented Jan. 23, 1945 WORK-SUPPORTING rosrr FOR. SEWING MACHINES I George W. Wesson, Bridgeport, Conn, assignor to The Singer Manufacturing Company, Elizabeth, N. J., a corporation of New Jersey Application February 18, 1944, Serial No. 522,854

11 Claims.

This invention relates to sewing machines having upright work-supporting posts and has for its primary object to provide for convenient accessibility to actuating mechanism within the worksupporting post of a sewing machine.

The present invention is particularly adapted for embodiment in a two-needle sewing machine having a work-supporting post comprising a plurality of complemental post-members individually secured detachably upon the sewing machine bedplate. In a commercially well known post-type lock-stitch sewing machine, the post houses two vertically disposed rotary-hook carrying shafts which are respectively journaled in different ones of the post-members; the post also housing a feed-bar disposed vertically between the rotary hook shafts and fulcrumed upon an intermediate post-member. To gain access to the feedbar, as for example to change or to adjust the feed-dog carried by the feed-bar, it has heretofore been necessary to remove one of the postmembers from the bed-plate of the machine. As the rotary-hook shaft of that post-member thereby became disconnected from its actuating shaft,

subsequent retiming of the rotary hook was re- I quired.

By means of the present invention, the postmember removal and the hook-retiming requirements of prior machines are obviated.

The invention consists in the work-supporting post construction hereinafter described in connection with the accompanying drawings which illustrate one embodiment of the invention and in which:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation, partly in vertical section, of a portion of a sewing machine containing the improved work-supporting post; one of the complemental post-members having a section thereof illustrated in dotted lines as swung out of its normal position. Fig. 2 is a horizontal section of the work-supporting post taken substantially on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a left-hand side elevation of the post, with the left-hand postmember removed from the machine and with the bed-plate shown in section; the roller-presser and the needles of the machine being also shown in side elevation. Fig. 4 is a right hand elevation of the upright portion of the left hand post-member removed from the machine.

The sewing machine shown in the drawings has a frame including a horizontally disposed bed-plate I0 recessed in its upper fac to provide a guideway ll. Rising from the bed-plate I0 is a work-supporting post comprising a plurality of complemental post-members including a sectiona1 post-member 12 at the left-hand sid of the post, a rigid right-hand post-member l3 and an intermediate post-member l4.

The right-hand post-member I3 is of conventional construction, comprising an upright arm 15 having an integral substantially rectangular foot-plate l6 seated in the bed-plate guideway II and secured therein by screws ll. Rotatably journaled in suitable bearings provided in the post-member I3 is a vertically disposed looptaker shaft 18. At its upper end, the shaft l8 carries a loop-taker in the form of a rotary hook 15 disposed in the region of the upper end of the post-member l3, said rotary hook being provided with a thread-carrier l9 suitably restrained against rotation with the rotary hook. The lower end of the loop-taker shaft l8 carries a bevelgear 26 disposed below the foot-plate l6 and engaged by a driving bevel-gear 2| of twice the size of the bevel-gear 20. The driving bevelgear 2| is suitably secured upon a horizontally disposed rotary actuating shaft 22 extending lengthwise of and journaled in suitable bearings provided at the under side of the bed-plate 10. The upper end of the post-member is normally closed by a removable slide-plate 23.

The intermediate post-member I4 is also of conventional construction, being generally of I-beam shape in horizontal section as illustrated in Fig. 2 of the drawings. At its lower end, the post-member I4 has a rectangular foot-plate 24 seated in the bed-plate guideway H and secured therein by screws 25. Suitably secured upon the upper end of the post-member I 4 is a throatplate 26.

Extending lengthwise of the intermediate postmember I4 is a feed-bar 21, to the upper end of which a feed-dog 28 is adjustably secured. Intermediate its ends, the feed-bar 21 is provided with a rectangular guide-slot 29 for a pivot-block 30 mounted upon a screw 3| threaded into the post-member I4. The lower end of the feed-bar is pivotally attached by a bolt 32 to an actuatorbar 33. The forward end of the actuator-bar 33 is suitably connected to the rocker-arm 34 of a conventional feed-advance rock-shaft 35. At its rearward end, the actuator-bar 33 is operatively connected to the crank-arm 36 of a conventional feed-lift rock-shaft 31. The rock-shafts 35 and 3'! are suitably actuated in timed relation to impart endwise and rocking movements to the feedbar 21, there-by to transmit to the feed-dog 28 the usual work-feeding movements through the throat-plate 26. The feed-bar 21 is confined by a guide-strap 38 to sliding movements upon the post-member l4, 7

The left-hand or sectional post-member l2 has a lower fixed post section comprising a short arm arm 39 rising vertically from a foot-plate 40 seated in the bed-plate guideway II and secured therein by screws 4|. Pivotally attached to the upper end of the arm 39 of the lower post-section, by a hinge 42, is a supplemental arm 43 comprising an upper swing-out post-section. normal upright position of the swing-out postsection is predetermined by a screw 44 adjustably threaded horizontally into the upper portion of the arm 39 and disposed in engagement with the fixed intermediate post-member 44.

The lower post-section 39 is provided, internally of the post, with a vertically apertured bearinglug 45. Rotatably journaled in the bearing-lug 45 is a short lower shaft-section 46 of a sectional loop-taker shaft; said lower shaft-section carrying a collar 4'! overlying the bearing-lug 45. At its lower end, the shaft-section 46 carries a bevel gear 48 engaged below the foot-plate 40 by a driving bevelg ear 49 secured upon the looptaker actuating shaft 22.

The upper end of the shaft-section 46 is provided with an upwardly open diametral slot 50 entered by a diametral tongue formed on the lower end of an pper shaft-section 52 which is normally disposed in substantial vertical alinement with the lower shaft-section 46. The upper shaft-section 52 is rotatably journaled in vertically spaced bearing-lugs 53 and 54 provided upon the arm 43 of the swing-out post-section. The pivot-axis of the hinge 42 is preferably disposed in a horizontal plane intersecting the mating tongue 51 and slot 50 of the complemental shaft-sections, as illustrated in Fig. 4 of the drawings.

At its upper end, the upper shaft-section 52 carries a loop-taker in the form of a verticalaxis rotary-hook 55 disposed adjacent the rotary hook l9; the loop-taker shaft l8and the sectional loop-taker shaft 46, 52 being disposed at opposite sides of the feed-bar 21. J ournaled in the rotary hook 55 is a thread-carrier 56 having a nose 51' entering a stop-notch 58 provided in the throat-plate 25, to restrain the thread-carrier against rotation with the rotary hook. Access to the loop-taker 55 is provided by a slide-plate 59,

removably seated in the upper end of the postsection arm 43 and disposed at the side of the throat-plate 26 opposite the slide-plate 23. The throat-plate 26 and the slide-plates 23 and 59 together provide the upper work-supporting face;

of the post.

Conventional cover-plates 60 and 6| are suitably secured upon the front'and rear edges of the right hand post-member l3 to overlap portions of the front and rear faces of the intermediate post-member l4. In similar fashion, opposed cover-plates 62 and 63 are suitably secured upon the front and rear edges of the upper arm 43 of the sectional post-member to overlap portions of the front and rear faces of the inter-. mediate post-member l4; said cover-plates 62 and 63 being free of but also overlapping the lower post-section 39. The swing-out post-section '43 is releasably secured in its upright position by a screw 64 threaded into the intermediate Doste member [4 and passing through a notch 65 provided in the front cover-plate 62 in the edge thereof proximate to the cover-plate 60 of the fixed post-member I3.

The

plemental to two needles 66 and 61, carried by a vertically reciprocatory needle-bar 6B, in the formation of lock-stitches. The work to be stitched is advanced across the upper face of the composite post by the feed-dog 28 which is opposed by a conventional roll-presser 69.

Should it be desired to gain access to the mechanism housed by the composite post hereinbefore described, the loop-taker actuating shaft 22 is turned to position the slot 50 of the sectional loop-taker shaft 46, 52 so that said slot is normal to the pivot-axis of the hinge 42. This position of the slot 50 may be easily obtained by locating said slot so that it is normal to said pivot-axis when the needle-bar 68 is at the upper end of its stroke. By now releasing the screw 64 from the cover-plate 62, the post-section 43 is free to be swung away from the other post-members into a position illustrated by dotted lines in Fig. 1 of the drawings, whereby the mechanism normally housed by the post is made readily accessible without disconnecting the lower shaft-section 46 from the actuating shaft 22. In returning the swing-out post-section 43 to its normal upright position, the shaft-section tongue 5| can easily be caused to enter the complemental shaft-section slot 50 in the properly timed position of the loop-taker.

Having thus set forth the nature of the invention, what I claim herein is:

l. A sewing machine having an upright worksupporting post including a hinged post-section, a vertically disposed sectional shaft including a loop-taker carrying shaft-sectionrotatably journaled in said hinged post-section for swing-out movement therewith, driving connections for rotating said shaft, and means for securing said hinged post-section in the operative position of the loop-taker carrying shaft-section.

2. A sewing machine having a sectional worksupporting post including a fixed post-section and a swing-out post-section hinged to the fixed postsection, a sectional shaft comprising a swingout shaft-section rotatably journaled in the the swing-out post-section and a fixed-axis shaftsection rotatably journaled in the fixed post-section, said shaft-sections being operatively connected to permit of swing-out movement of the hinged post-section, a loop-taker carried by the upper end of said swing-out shaft-section, driving connections with said fiXedaXis shaft-section for rotating said shaft, and means for securing said swing-out post-section in the operative position of said loop-taker.

3. A sewing machine having an upright worksupporting post including a hinged upper postsection, a vertically disposed sectional shaft comprising an upper shaft-section rotatably Journaled in, said hinged post-section and a lower fixed-axis shaft-section, said shaft-sections being operativel connected to permit of swing-out movement of the hinged post-section, a looptaker carried by said upper shaft-section, stopmeans limiting movement of said upper postsection into the operative position of said looptaker, means for securing said hinged post-section in its normal upright position, and driving connections with said fixed-axis shaft-section for rotating said shaft.

l. A sewing machine having an upright worksupporting post including a hinged upper postsection, a vertically disposed sectional shaft comprising an, upper shaft-section rotatably journaled in sail hinged post-section and a lowerfixed-axis shaft-section, said, shaft-sections having tongue-and-slot connections with each other for rotation in unison, a loop-taker carried by said upper shaft-section, means for securing said hinged post-section in the operative position of said loop-taker, and driving connections with said fixed-axis shaft-section for rotating said shaft. I

5. A sewing machine having a bed-plate, a work-supporting post rising from said bed-plate,

said post including alower post-section secure-d upon said bed-plate and an upper post-section hinged to the lower post-section for swing-out movement, a sectional shaft extending length-- wise of said post and comprising a lower shaftsection rotatably journaled in said lower postsection and an upper shaft-section rotatably journaled in said upper post-section for swingout movement therewith, said shaft-sections 'being operatively connected to permit of swingout movement of the hinged post-section, a looptaker carried by the upper shaft-section, means for securing said upper post-section in the operative position of said loop-taker, a rotary actuating shaft disposed at the under side of said bed-plate, and intermeshing gears connecting said actuating shaft and said lower shaft-section.

6. A sewing machine having a bed-plate, a work-supporting post rising from said bed-plate, said post including a lower post-section secured upon said bed-plate and an upper post-section hinged to the lower post-section for swing-out movement, a pair of rotary loop-taker shafts journaled in and extending lengthwise of said post, rotary loop-takers carried by the upper ends of said shafts, one of said shafts comprising a lower shaft-section journaled in said lower post-section and an upper shaft-section journaled in the hinged post-section, said shaftsections being connected for rotation in unison and to permit of swing-out movement of the hinged post-section, a feed-bar disposed between said rotary shafts and extending lengthwise of said post, a feed-dog secured upon the upper end of said feed-bar, means for actuating said feedbar, a rotary actuating shaft disposed at the under side of said bed-plate, and driving connections between said actuating shaft and the lower ends of said loop-taker shafts.

7. A sewing machine having a bed-plate, complemental post-members together forming a work-supporting post rising from said bed-plate,

one of said post-members being sectional and comprising a lower post-section secured upon said bed-plate and an upper post-section hinged to the lower post-section for swing-out movement, a vertically disposed sectional loop-taker shaft rotatably journaled in the sectional postmember and comprising a lower shaft-section journaled in said lower post-section and an upper shaft-section journaled in the hinged postsection, said shaft-sections being connected for rotation in unison and to permit of swing-out movement of the hinged post-section, a vertically disposed loop-taker shaft rotatably journaled in a second post-member, loop-takers carried by the upper ends of said shafts, a rotary actuating shaft disposed below said bed-plate, driving connections between said actuating shaft and the lower ends of said loop-taker shafts, an intermediate post-member disposed between the postmembers in which said loop-taker shafts are journaled, a feed-bar fulcrumed upon said intermediate post-member and disposed between said loop-taker shafts, a feed-dog carried by the upper end of said feed-bar, and means for actuating said feed-bar.

8. A sewing machine having a composite worksupporting post including complemental fixed and hinged post-members disposed sidewise in adjacent relation, a rotary sectional-shaft extendinglengthwise of said post and comprising a fixed-axis shaft-section and a swing-out shaftsection connected for rotation in unison, said swing-out shaft-section being rotatably journaled in said hinged post-member, means for rotating said fixed-axis shaft-section, and a loop-taker carried by said swing-out shaft-section.

9. A sewing machine having a composite work-supporting post including complemental fixed and hinged post-members disposed sidewise in adjacent relation, a rotary shaft journaled in and extending lengthwise of said hinged postmember for swing-out movement therewith relatively to said fixed post-member, a loop-taker carried by the upper end of said shaft, means for rotating said shaft, and releasable means for securing said hinged post-member to said fixed post-member.

10. A sewing machine having a composite work-supporting post including complemental fixed and hinged post-members disposed sidewise in adjacent relation, a rotary loop-taker shaft journaled in and extending lengthwise of said hinged post-member for swing-out movement therewith relatively to said fixed postmember, means for rotating said shaft, releas able means for securing said hinged post-memher to said fixed post-member, and a cover-plate extending from a side wall of oneof said postmembers and overlapping the other of said postmembers.

11. A sewing machine having a composite work-supporting post including complemental fixed and hinged post-members disposed sidewise in adjacent relation, a rotary 1ooptaker shaft journaled in and extending lengthwise of said hinged post-member for swing-out movement therewith relatively to said fixed postmember, means for rotating said shaft, releasable means for securing said hinged post-member to said fixed post-member, and cover-plates extending from opposite side faces of said hinged post-member and overlapping corresponding side faces of said fixed post-member.

GEORGE W. WESSON. 

